Cage, lander, and gate combination



Nov. 14, 1933. G. w. MERRITT CAGE, LANDER, AND GATE COMBINATION Filed Nov. 8, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l MVM Nov. 14, 1933. G. w. MERRlT' CAGE, LANDER, AND GATE COMBINATION Filed Nov. 8, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 NOV. 14, 1933. Q W MERR|TT 1,934,869

CAGE, LANDER, AND GATE COMBINATION WY i9 ,f k w l. gw]

Patented Nov. 14, 1933 Y r1`,94,s69 d CAGE, LANDER,'AND GATE COMBINATION Glenn W. Merritt, Bowerston, Ohio, vassignorto The Mining., Safety Device Company, Bowerston, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio n ApplicationNovember 8, 1930. Serial No. 494,305

7 claims.

- The present invention relates to an improved construction in the apparatus associated with the shaft of a mine for handling cars automatically and-with facility, in order to speed up the deliv- ,5 ery of minedmaterials, to increase the output,

and `to correspondingly reduce the cost f Operating expenses.y y f Y 'Ihis I accomplish by interlocking the cagers,

gates and landers in such amanner as to be controllable by means of a single lever, and operable by' means of the mine cage itself. With the foregoingmechanisms interlocked, as will hereinafter be fully described, the operator stationedat the particular level from which the loaded cars are to This action' swings the landing chairs into the shaft'andinto operative position Afor receiving and supporting the cage atthe selected level. The

operation ofthe lever also moves a trip crank into v position to heY actuated by the cage as it is lowered onto the landing chairs, whereby the safety gates Y l cars on the incline, indicated by car 9, is being are opened and the eager or feeder is operated to allow a loaded car to enter upon the cage, .pushing the empty car therefrom. When the cage is V2'5 hoisted the safety gates are automatically closed,V

' and the feeder mechanism is operated to advance thetrip ofl cars upon the incline, in a known manner.f'.`

I'heprimary object of my invention is to interlock the various mechanismsassociated with each level in the mine, ink'suchV a way as to automatically operate theY gates, the landers andthe trip shaft of the feeder mechanism. Y

Another obj ect of my invention'is to assure that 351 the gates of the sides of the'mine shaft will remain lowered exceptfwhen the cage'is-inloading position at a 4selected level, which is advantageous as contributing tothe safety of the operators.

Anotherrobject istoV provide a single cage operated means which will operateall o f themechar-l nisms utilized for the purpose of loading cars onto and off of the cage, and will alsolopen the safety gates disposed on both sides, ofthe mine shaft. I A 'further object isto utilize .the 'feedereoperat ing shaft, which is actuated by the cage,to operate a system of levers for raisingand lowering the safetyA gates. Y f 7 Another object is to provide.` an apparatus of l the character described which is sturdy but of comparativelysimple and inexpensive construction. Further objects and advantages of my invention willappear from thedet'ailed description.

In the drawings:

be broughttothe surface merely actuates a lever.

`Figure 1 is a side elevational viewofthe car` handling and gate operating means embodying my invention;

Figure 2`is a plan sectional view taken substantially along the line 2 2 inFigure 1, showing two Y adjacent mine shafts;

vFigure 3 is an elevational View of the gate operating mechanism, partially in section, and taken substantiallyl along the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an .4 end view of the car feeding mechanism as viewed from the mine shaft; and

Figure 5 is a vertical detail sectional View of the mine shaft end portion of the feeder and associated parts.

'Referring now to Figure 1, the car handling equipment comprises in general, a car feeding` mechanism or eager 10, a cage 11 operating within the mine shaft 12 and'landers 13 which support the cage in position with the cage rails 14 in alignment with the mine rails 15. In Figure 1 the car 8 is in position upon the cage 1l and the `trip of held back by the feeder.

Of theforegoin'g equipment the landers 13 are manually operated, while the cager 10 and the cagell are, broadly, of known type. Preferably, thecage isprovided with car lock or holding means such. as that disclosed in my copending applicationled June 21, 1930, Serial No. 462,810. The cage in my copending application is provided kwith two sets of horns 16 and 17, respectively, for locking a carupon the cage. The horns 16 are Vautomatically opened whenv theV cage comesto rest upon the landers. The horns 17 are adapted to be opened bythe entering loaded car, which pushes the empty car from the cage. The entering car actuates means for releasing the horns 16- which close in front .of such car, and horns 17 close in back of the rear wheels of the entering car thereby locking Vthe car in place upon the cage. This-meansof positioning and holding a car upon [the cage is, broadly, known in the art andfneed notbe illustrated nor described herein greater detail, it being suiicientto note that the cage is provided `with suitable car locking or holding means. jr 1, f y The landers 13,(comprise'a plurality of landingY chairs 18 and 19 which are secured upon supportving shafts 21 and22 rockably mounted at opposite sides of the mine shaft 12. Crank arms 23 and :24 are suitably keyed to the shaftsr21 andl2r2, respectively, adjacent one end` thereof,`and con-r necting links y25jiand 26are pivotally connected lwithftheV crankvleversfkAlink rstructure 27. is pivotally ,mounagsubstanumly centrally of the 1 -1,0

ico

compartment 12 at one side thereof, as shown at 28, and includes oppositely directed arms which are connected by links 25 and 26 to the free end-s of arms 23 and 24, respectively. A link 29 connects one arm of the link 27 to an operating lever 81 upon a rockably mounted shaft 32. vThe landing chairs are normally disposed out of the path of the travel of cage 11, but when the cage is to be stopped at landing, as in Figure 1, the lever 31 is moved in the direction of arrow 33, whereby the landing chairs are brought into the position shown for supporting the cage with the rails 14 thereon in direct alignment with rails 15. Movement of lever 31 beyond the position of Figure 1,'in the direction indicated, is prevented by chains 34 each having one end suitably secured to the landing chairs, the other end of each chain being anchored in a suitable manner.

It is common practice to provide a mine shaft with two, or more cages, and it is for this reason that two complete car handling units vhave been illustrated. Since the structures of these units are the same and the operation of each is identical to the other, a description of one will suffice.

- connected therewith comprising a sleeve collar 41,

i ner best illustrated in Figure 5.

43 is provided with laterally extending pins 45 therewith as the latter is shifted endwise.

collar 42 and a shift collar 43. The sleeve collar 41 and collar 42 are secured together and to shaft 36 by means of a pin 44, while the shiftcollar 43 is disposed between collars 41 and 42 in the man- The shift collar that engage through slots 46 formed in the free ends of arms 39. The foregoing arrangement provides a means for shifting shaft 36 endwise by means of lever 31 whenever the latter isoperated to throw the landing chairs into operative position. The primary purpose of the stub shaft 36 is to operate the cager or car feeding mechanism. One end of shaft 36 is provided with a trip crank 47 which is suitably secured to the shaft and moves The other end of shaft 36 is provided with a squared portion 48 which extends into socket member 49 having a square opening 51 therein to cooperate with the squared end of shaft 36. Socket member 49 is secured to the main shaft 52 of the cager by any desired fastening means such as pin 53. By this construction, rotation of shaft 36 will be imparted to the main shaft 52 of the cager through the instrumentality of the socket member 49, and furthermore, the socket member as herein constructed will allow shaft 36 to move endwise relative to shaft 52 without affecting the operative connection between said shafts. vShaft 52 is suitably supported in bearings `5l) and .held against endwise movement by` collars 66. Y

Rotation of shaft 36 to operate the cager for feeding a car on to the cage iscausedby means of the cage striking the trip crank 47 when the latter has been moved into the path of travel of d the cage. When a car is to be loaded at a landing, the attendant moves lever 31 into the position shown `in Figure V1. The landers are swung into the shaft compartment by means of the mechanism previously described. In moving lever 31, shaft 32 is simultaneously rotated, actuating the shifting mechanism which moves shaft 36 endwise. As a result of this, the trip crank 47 is moved into the path of the cage to be subsequently operated thereby. As the cage is lowered, it strikes the trip crank 47, thereby operating the cager mechanism, and immediately thereafter the cage will come to rest upon the landers, at which time the car locking mechanism of the cage is also simultaneously operated. This cuts rout a loaded car from the trip, and this loaded car travels down the incline and onto the cage pushing the empty car therefrom in a known manner.

1n order to understand the operation of the cager and its association with the interlocking mechanism comprising the present invention, I will give abrief description thereof. Any type of automatic car feeding device may be used in connection with my invention, but I prefer to use a caging mechanism of the4 typebest illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. This cager comprises two sets of pivotally mounted horns 54 and 55, which have limited movement along the rails. Expansion coil springs 56 abut horns 54 and 55 and cushion the movement thereof under the impact of the loaded cars. These horns are provided with suitable arms 57 whereby they may be rocked into open and closed positions. Connecting links 58, which are adjustable in length, are pivotally connected at 59 with the arms of horns 54, and at 61 with a toggle link 62. Toggle link 62 is connected to the main shaft 52 of the cager to turn therewith. Connecting links 63, of the same character as links 58, are pivotally connected to the arms of horns and to the toggle link 64 which' is also suitably connected to shaft 52. It is to be further noted that the toggle links 62 and 64 are so related that one set of horns will be in open position when the other set is closed to engage the wheels of a car, and vice versa.

The operation of the cager may readily be explained in connection with Figure 2, wherein two cager's have been illustrated. The cager A is shown in its normal position fork holding a car in readiness to be released for passage on to the cage. A weight'65, is secured to the main operating shaft 52 of the cager and normally maintains the shaft'in a position to hold the horns 54 in closed position, and horns 55 in openposition. When the trip crank is moved into the path of the cage, the latter will strike it andi rotate the stub shaft, and the rotation Vof the stub `shaft is imparted to the cages shaft through the socket member. When this occurs, the cager mechanism is operated so `as to open horns 54 and close horns 55, as at B. As the cage is hoisted, the crank 47 is released and the car feeding mechanism` is restored, by weight 65, to the condition shown in the cager A of- Figure 2.

The foregoing description has been chiefly co-n- It is fined to the mechanisms for handling cars. common practice in mines to provide suitable gates for the entrances into the mine shaft from the various levels. This is generally so in all mines whether they have car handling equipment or not, inasmuch as gates are necessary as a safety .measure to safeguard against accidents. I have provided such gates, and although they do not have a direct bearing on the car handling equipment, 1 have devised means whereby gates if;

Suitable gates and their associated operating mechanisms are illustrated in Figure-.3.'A Since the two sets of gates are of like 4construction and have similarl operating mechanisms, a description of' one( set will suiiice. In Figure'3, gates C are shown in closed position while gates vD are shown in open position. Gates C are disposed on opposite sides of the mine shaft and extend across'the aligned openings or entrances to the shaft and across the path of the cars which are handled by either one of the two car handling units. Gates C are mounted for vertical movement in guides 70, and the latter may be of channel iron construction, as shown, or of any otherdesired construction. AV cable 71 has one end secured to a clevis 72 carried by the gate, passes up and over suitably supported pulleys 73, and has its other end secured to a kring 74. A second cable '75 is also attached to ring 74 and passes over another set of pulleys 76 to the other side of the shaft where it is connected to the opposite gate. A short cable 77 is attached to ring 74 and connects with the end of arm 78 of a bell crank lever 79, at 8l. The bellcrank. lever 79 is rockably mounted at 82, and a pull rody 83 has one end pivotally connected with the other arm 84. of the bell crank lever. The other end of the pull rod 83 is pivotally attached to a crank arm 85. K

Referring now to Figures 3 and 5, it is seen that the crank arm 85 is operatively connected with the stud shaft 36 of the eager mechanism and is Y rotated thereby. Since shaft 36 is shiftable, a

splined connection 86 is provided between the crank arm 85 and shaft 36 as best seen in Figure r 5. Since crank arm 85 is disposed adjacent bearing 37 it is held thereby against appreciable movement with stub shaft 36 toward this bearing. To

prevent movement of the crank arm 85 in a direc- Y tion away from bearing 37, a stop member 87 is y bolted to bearing 37. This may be made inthe form of a fiat plate having its projecting end 88 downturned and forked as at 89 to freely straddle shaft 36 adjacent the crank arm 85 in the manner best shown in Figure 5. With this construction V@the crank arm 85 will always remain in position connection with the cager mechanism as hereinbefore described, is operated by the cage as the,V n

.. connected 'to Vthe landers for moving the latter latter descends'into the shaft and strikes trip crank 47. Furthermore, the gates on both sides ofthe shaft compartment are automatically :"j opened in this manner by a mechanism which v:r j the cage is again raised. The raising of the cage causes the eager `mechanism to be restored to its normal condition, and the eager mechanism allows each of the gates to` close by theirY own weight. The weight 65 and the gates C cooperate in restoring the eager mechanisnito its-normal condition and, if desirable, the gates may be made heavg7 enough to eliminate weight 65 altogether.

Itis to beunderstood that theV interlocking mechanism of the present invention maybe varied i in its construction and that the particular arrangement illustratedand described is only given by way of example. vForrthisreason I do not be limited by and `connections between `What Iiclaim isff lfln CombinatOIl.' a cageoperating inra mine shaft, feedermechanism for feeding a car to the;

cage, a gate controllingentrance tothe shaft shftable means'connectedwith the feeder mech:- anismt'o operate thelatter, a trip crank carried by said` shiftable means, means for'actuating said shiftable means to move'said trip crank into vand out of the path of the cage, and gate opening means operatively connected with said shiftable means` Y 2. In combination, a cage operating in a mine shaft,r1anders for supporting said cage, feeder mechanism for feeding a car to the cage, a slidable trip shaft operatively connected with said mechanism, aA trip crank operatively connected with said trip shaft, andV means for moving the trip shaft into and out of position to dispose the crank inthe path of travel of the cage and for moving the landers into and out of operative position.V

3. In combination, a cage operating in a mine shaft, landers for supporting said cage, feeder mechanism for feeding a carto the cage, a pair of gates controlling entrance to the shaft, a slidable trip shaft operatively connected with said feeder mechanism, a trip crank secured to said.

trip shaft to move therewith, gate opening means operatively connected with the trip shaft, and manually operated control means for moving the 'trip shaft into and out of position to disposeV the trip crank in the path of travel vof the cage and for moving the landers into and out of operative position.

4. In combination, a cage operating in a mine shaft, landers for supporting said cage, feeder Y mechanism for feeding a car to the cage, a gate controlling entrance to the shaft, trip means operable by the cage for operating said feeder mechanism, means operated by said trip means for opening said gates, and means for-moving the trip' means into and out of position to be operated bythe cage and for moving the landers into and out of operative position'.

5. l,In combination, a cage operatingin a-mine shaft, landers for Vsupporting said cage, feeder mechanism for-feeding a car to the cage, a gate v feeder mechanism, meansv operated by the trip means for opening saidgate, an operating lever into and out ofl operative position, and means connecting said lever with'said shiftable trip means for moving the latter into and out of the able means operable when in` one position by said cage for actuating said vfeeder mechanism,-a

control leverconnected to the landers for mov-v ing them into and outofoperative position, conv nections between said shiftablemeans said control lever for nfiovingA the shiftable means into and outof position to be operated by the cage,

the lever landers for moving the latter into and out `of operative position in accordance-with movement of theshiftable means into and out of position to be operated by the cage.

7. In combination, a cage operating in a mine shaft, a feeder for deliveringloaded cars to the cage, said feeder including a trip member movand theV landers 'into' and out of operative position `and forv simultaneously moving the trip member into and out of position to be actuated by the cage, and connections between the feeder and the gate for opening the gate when the feeder is operated to deliver a oar to the cage and closing the gate when the feeder is returned to normal condition.

GLENN W. MERRITT. 

